practiced Christianity.”^5 According to Michel de Certeau, “mysticism” as a noun first
appeared in early seventeenth-century France.^6 The word mysticism did not enter the
English language until the eighteenth-century.^7 A review of four popular
seventeenth-century dictionaries confirms this; however, the word “mystery” and
“mystical” were already in common usage.^8 Indeed the language of “mystical” and
“mystically” was introduced by Clement of Alexandria (ca. 150-ca. 215) already in
the early third-century.^9
William Inge concludes his study of mysticism with a sample of twenty-six
definitions of “mysticism” and “mystical theology” and acknowledges that the list
could have been greatly expanded.^10 The difficulty of defining the nature of
mysticism can be further illustrated by the assessment of the spiritual life of St.
Thérèse of Lisieux by two prominent Roman Catholic theologians of the last century.
On the one hand Louis Bouyer asserts that she was a mystic while Hans Urs von
Balthasar maintains that she was not because she possessed no acquaintance with or
desired the typical experiences associated with mysticism.^11 Therefore, Heiko
Oberman’s reminder about the necessity for clarity is appropriate as he warns that an
(^5) McGinn, Foundations of Mysticism (^) , 266-7. For a helpful summary of the
development of the term “mysticism” see Bouyer, “Mysticism: Essay of the Word.”
For a succinct summary of the history of spirituality that is strongly focused on
mysticism see Sheldrake, 6 Spirituality & History, 40-64.
7 de Certeau, Mystic Fable, 107, cf. 94-112. cf. Harmless, Mystics, 261-2.^
mystical appeared as early as 15 The first entry for mysticism appears in 1736. 00 and mystic in 1382. OED, 10:176. However, the term OED, 10:175. Further the
term mystery appeared in 1315. OED, 10:173. Of these terms, mystery was the only
term that would have been used in Scripture (e.g. Rom 16:25; 1 Cor 15:51; Eph 5:32;
Col 1:26; 1 Tm 3:16). 8
See Cawdrey, Table Alphabetical; Wilson, Christian Dictionary; Cockeram, English
Dictionarie 9 ; Phillips, New World of English Words.
10 McGinn, Foundations of Mysticism, 102.^
11 Inge, Wiseman, “Mysticism.” s.v., 682.Christian Mysticism, 335-48.